Why Plaid Cymru Should Not Panic

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

This is another of those occasional posts which I'd not intended to write but Twitter and it's 140 characters brought to my attention. It was a link to a BBC News website whose headline was Rhun ap Iorweth " would consider running for Plaid leader". Rhun Ap Iorweth being a leading figure in Plaid Cymru.

It caught my attention as an English Plaid member. Has Leanne Wood resigned I thought? Is there going to be one of those summer party leadership election battles that pass the media's time until September?

No.

It turned out that the headline was Sun/Mail like in it's distortion. If you read it what was said it was that he would consider running for the party leadership if Leanne Wood steps down. So let's pause here. A politician is asked a direct question and he answers it directly. He would consider being leader of the party but will not threaten his leader to get the position. If he was a football player, let's say for West Ham United, and was asked if wanted to be captain one day, he'd say of course, but that doesn't mean he'd stab Mark Noble on the way to the post.And yet the headline by itself implies something much more dramatic than what was actually said.

Rhun Ap Iorwerth also "admitted" that he wanted to be First Minister one day. Admitted? Was there torture involved? Again a politician is answers a direct question directly and it's as if a whole squadron of cats have been let out of the bag. Personally someone with ambitions for himself and his party should be applauded for therein lies motivation to succeed.

What worries me about this article is the way it was mischievously interlinked with a call by an unnamed Plaid Cymru AM for a fresh leadership contest with Leanne Wood to step down. Now let's say for the sake of argument this unnamed AM exists. The argument that is used is concerning the "disappointing" Assembly, local and general election results and that Plaid needs a fresh approach to go on. It also says she has lost the confidence of the other AMs. Personally I do not know but would doubt the last point. Political schisms in any party are rarely contained for very long and this would have surfaced a long time.

Am I reading an attempt to put two and two together and hype it up to five?

With regard to the various election results. Plaid under Leanne Wood have improved it's position from the dire state she inherited under Iuean Wynne Jones. It might have been slower than some people would have liked, but it's still an improvement. Leanne Wood is a popular asset to the party in a way that Carwyn Jones is not. I wish her to stay as leader but should she leave with any hint that she was pushed out then not only would the party be damaged in the eyes of the electorate but the next leader will face very high and possibly in the short term unrealistic expectations.

And if we focus on the results of the last general election as I've written before Welsh Labour were lucky. They were able to profit from "the Corbyn effect" even though they are the party not of Corbyn but of Blair. By the logic of the unnamed AM the disappointing regional and general election results should mean that she immediately resigns......the person I'm referring to being Nichola Sturgeon.

But politics is cyclical. The consequences of Brexit will mean that the Labour position will be just as disastrous as the Tory one. Welsh people and people like me who live in Wales will seek an alternative. Welsh Labour fears Plaid Cymru because it reminds them of what they once were, not the incompetent mess they have become. Plaid Cymru, if the ultimate vision of an independent Wales making decisions for the benefit of all the people who live there not a Cardiff Bay elite will become more attractive in such a future.

So Plaid Cymru should not expect an easy few years....but should not panic.

Until the next time.